Fifa to offer extra £2.6bn for football development

Fifa is set to propose a $3.4bn increase in the amount of money it hands out for football development across the world. Fifa president Gianni Infantino will be standing for re-election in March Fifa is set to propose a $3.4bn (£2.6bn) increase in the amount of money it hands out for football development across the world. World football's governing body wants to release the money from its reserves in a move which would more than double the level of planned distribution funding for 2027-2030. It says it has been able to release the extra cash because of the commercial success of this summer's World Cup. The proposal will be made at a meeting of Fifa's council on Thursday and comes at a time when the organisation is under pressure following president Gianni Infantino's aborted Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan.

Infantino wanted to sell stakes in the World Cup and other competitions to private investors but faced huge criticism for the proposal, with Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation questioning his position. Uefa and Concacaf wrote to Infantino in September calling on Fifa to pay at least $10m (£7.5m) from its cash reserves to each of the 211 member associations. In a letter then sent to Fifa's six continental confederations, Infantino – who will be standing for re-election for a